Electrolytic process.



R. J. MoNITT. ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS. APPLICATION FILED S EPT.25, 1903. I

Patented May 28, 1912.

i To all whom" it amen.-

rATE T OFFICE ROBERT .1. menrrr, or nmeana FALLS, NEW omr, ASSIGLNOR r ROESSLER a HAss- LACHER cnnmrcnr. COMPANY, or NEW YORK, n. Y.,' A conronarron o1 NEW Yonxpf Specification o t Letters Patent.

7 ELECTROLYTIC rnocnss.

' Patented May 28,1912.

. a nee' ion am September 25, 1909. Serial No. 519,511.

7 Be-it known that L'Rolmnr .l'.' MoNIrT, a

citizen oft-he United States of America, re-

d siding at Niagara Falls, in gthe" county of tee of New York, have .innil- S$4 p ces'se's, of "which the Fa l te's renew and "useful v ctrolytic processes and Z ectl ,the vention is' to provide a .ineans' .for regulating and controlling the temperature' of the electrode Substance.

-'-My*inventioi1 relates more specifically to those electrolytic processes in which it is desired toabsorb andv retain oneor more of the products of the electrolysis inthe elec- Niagaii a and trode substance. .In carrying out such proc- 'essesit is often found that when the temperature of the electrode substance rises beyond certain limits, said substance refuses to takeup any further products of electrolysis and may even give off part or all of said products already absorbed. It .has been proposed to overcome this difliculty in I partfby adding to the electrolyte certain 'fluxing'fage'nts which enabl take.j-,plaoeat lower temp lectrolysis to atu'ife's. This 'remedy'v has two disadvantages fEirst, the

fir

Off I since't'he products of electrolysis'recombin- 'addition'ito'the electrolyte of agents brings y increased cost." nd complex ty into h l v p V a on, 1m purities-or ther causesgiit ijs ev 'dent that t e presence c; .ing-in theelectrolyte producemoreandmore tothe process andfurthermore; 'f {rectly {reach the seat of the". troub heatj, 'withattendmgrise in temperature. It

has further been proposed to overcome they difliculty stated by circulating coolingli uids around; the electrolyte-,jasby means 0; 'ex 'f ternal. waterjackets and thus "controlling temperature, This remed vantage of adding dange andl i removes' h t from the 'overheatedlelec rode substanceby cooling the electrolyte. gireaeeg the electrolyte must be maintained" at alower temperature than the j ele'ctrode .sub'-. fistance, thus offering a higher-electrical re? I tsistance which underi constant flow; of current results inthe production of mere-teat;

agents-would {bejof n6 benefit, l electrolytic cell showing one means of carrying out my invention and Fig. 2 is a simi- "la'r view showing another means of carrying outmy invention.

units which must also be dissipated. Furthermore, the remedies suggested depend largely upon very careful manipulation for agaln.

My invention consists in regulating and controlling the temperature of the elect-rode substance by cooling the same directly, 2'. e. withdrawing heat directly from the electrode substance and thus reducing its temperature. usually a metal orcmixture of metals having a high capacity for conducting heat, it is easy to cool the same or withdraw heat from the same, by bringing said substance into contact with cooling surfaces either by circulating the substance over the cooled surface, or by circulating some cooling agent through the substance in suitable coils, or otherwise. By this method it is possible to regulate and control the temperature of the electrode substance and at the same time maintain a higher temperature in the electrolyte, thus lowering its electrical resistance with resulting economy of power as As," the electrode substance is well as rendering the process more simple features thereof being more particularly set,

forth hereinafter in the claims.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional 'view of an '-';shall describe the drawings withfrefer- In the drawings, indicates an electrof lytic cell having walls 2, 2 and a bottom 3, preferably of cast iron. I

, 4 is amagnesla lining to protect the walls of thecell, the magnesia lining preferabllly t e extending down a short distance-into tcathode metal asshown. I

ence'to' the application of my methodto the: I we'll-{known process of electrolyzingi sodiu-m ichlorid and absorbing the metallic sodium jin "Fa cathode of lead, similar numerals ofgrefer ence indicating similar parts throughout the sseveral views.

is a partition extending from side to.

side of the cell, leaving spaces 6 and 7 at either end between the end of the partition and the walls 2, 2 of the cell, the partition 5 thus forming a channel 8 between itself and the bottom 3 of the cell, the channel being in free communication with the upper part of the cell at either end of the partition.

9, 9 indicates the anodes of carbon, graph- 10 ite or other suitable material connected by means of a wire 10 with a source of suitable electric energy (not shown).

11 represents a stirrer blade on shaft 12 driven by gear 13 actuated by any convenient source of power, the function of the stirrer blade 11 being to cause a circulation of the cathode metal 14 from the upper f part of cell 1 through opening 6 channel 8 and opening 7, back again into the upper part of the cell 1.

- 15 is :an electric contact making electrical connection with the electrode substance. 16 is a coil of suitable pipe extending into channel 8 and adapted to be connected with a suitable supply for circulating water, molten lead or other suitable cooling agent through it, so that as the cathode metal is caused to circulate over and around the same by means of the circulating device 11, 80 it will give up a portion of its heat.

17 is a coil adapted to rest on partition 5 and to extend through the electrode substance, said coil being in connection with a suitable source of supply for circulating water, molten lead or other cooling agent through the same and thus withdrawing heat from the electrode substance. The coil 17 is shown in a corrugated form so as to present a greater cooling surface to the 40 electrode substance. The cell is made airtight by means of a suitable cover 18, preferably of asbestos, provided with an opening 19 for the. escape of chlorin. This may be conducted to any suitable receptacle for further use. Suitable openings (not shown) are also provided in cover 18 for charging the cell.

In the operation of the device it is well known that if the temperature of the cathode rises beyond certain limits, the limits depending upon the proportion of sodium' -in the cathode material, the cathode material will refuse sodium readily and may even ve oil part of that alread absorbe Now as the'temperature o the sodium lead allo the cell is approximately 800 centira e" and the temperature of molten lead is 325. centigrade, it is obvious that the circulation of the molten lead through the cathode material or sodium lead alloy will reduce the temperature of the cathode ma-- terial. The circulation of water or other cooling substance through the coils 16 or 17 have a similar efiect.

to absorb more It is unnecessary to further explain the operation of the process than to state that when the cell is in operation, the molten lead cathode will absorb sodium to form sodium lead alloy in the well known manner, the chlorin passing off, the sodium lead alloy acting as the cathode substance being circulated through channel 8 by the means described, and assing over, around or in contact with 0011s 16 or 17, which coils are maintained at a temperature less than the temperature of the sodium lead allo b means of the circulation of cooling ui s through them, the result of the operation being the cooling of the electrode substance, in this case, sodium lead alloy, directly without at the same time coolin the electrolyte or increasing the electrical resistance.

It is obvious that many different kinds of apparatus may be adapted to carry out the process described and that the process may be used in connection with electrolysis of other compounds than sodium chlorid and I do not restrict myself to any of the details as shown and described.

What I claim and desire 'to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An improvement in electrolytic processes which consists in maintaining the temperature of the electrode substance at a point most favorable {for electrolysis by.

causing said substance to circulate adjacent to a cooling surface.

2. An improvement in electrolytic processes'which consists in maintaining the temperature of the electrode substance at a point most favorable for electrolysis by causing said substance to circulate over a cooling surface. a Y

3. An improvement in electrolytic processes which consists in maintaining the tem-- perature of the electrode substance at a point most favorable for electrolysis by. causing said substance to circulate adjacent to a cooling surface supplied with a separate cooling agent from without the cell.

4. An improvement in electrolytic processes which consists in maintaining the temperature of the electrode substance at a point most favorable for electrolysis by causing said substance to circulate over a cooling surface supplied with a separate cooling agent from without the cell.

5. An improvement in electrolytic processes which consists in maintaining one of the electrodes in a liquid condition and in maintaining the temperature of said liquid electrode substance at a point most favorable for electrolysis by bringing said substance and a cooling device into contact with each other.

6. An improvement in electrolytic processes which consists in maintaining one of the electrodes in a liquid condition and in stance and a cooling device supplied with I a separate cooling agent'from without the cell mto contact with each other.

v In testimony whereof I have signed this Witnesses:

specification in the presence of two subscribmg witnesses.

ROBERT J; MQNITT.

, HOWARD E. BATSFORD,

WM. F. FLAHERTY. 

